Lately I've been finding myself eating in fastfood stores more often. Well, summer's here and I like the airconditioning in these places, and the variety of food choices that they give me. I am also toying with the idea of doing my own version of "Super Size Me", but only until I get as fat as I'd like to be. And, if you're single and living independently, you must have discovered by now that sometimes it is more economical (in terms of financial and physical energy expenditures) to eat out than cook in your house.

But lately, too, I've been hearing a lot of seemingly well-educated, picky, self-proclaimed food connoiseurs demand that they be given "white meat parts" when they order chicken in fastfood stores. The first time I heard it I was amused, and felt sorry for the staff who was asked to select the white meat of fried chicken. But it seems that more and more people are using the term now that the staff already understands that they are referring to the breast or thigh part, or, generally, the fleshy part. Maybe this is how words/ terminologies evolve: someone would  use a term as if s/he knows very well what s/he's saying, and then the others would hear her/him and start using that term, too. Maybe I should start referring to myself as Diyosa, with enough conviction to convince a whole nation.

So what is white meat? White meat refers to lean meat, meaning, meat that are less fatty than red meat (pork, beef, mutton, etc.). Foods that fall under this category are fish, seafood, and particularly poultry/ fowl (chicken, and all its parts, included). Does it hurt using the term to refer to the fleshy part of chicken? Maybe not IF you're not trying to project the image of a food connoissuer, if you just happen to "not really know the difference". I try to imagine this scene in a formal dining restaurant, and I could almost see the maitre d' and the chefs cringe. But honey, you may call it a chair if you want to. In food and customer service, the customer is ALWAYS right. It doesn't mean, though, that s/he can't be funny.